Three apartment fires not connected

A fire Saturday at the Scotsdale Apartments was the third fire at a Westland apartment complex in less than a week — a coincidence, according to fire authorities.

“The fires are not connected in any way. It’s just one of those coincidences,” Wayne-Westland Fire Chief Michael Reddy said.

The Scotsdale Apartments fire was reported at about 4 p.m. and was confined to a first-floor unit, he said.

“It was an occupied apartment but we are getting conflicting information on whether someone was there (when the fire started),” Reddy said. “We don’t believe anyone was at home.”

That apartment had a lot of fire damage, but other units in the building had only smoke damage, he said.

“The residents should be able to get back into apartments in a day or two,” Reddy said. “There was no water damage to the other units because the fire was on the first floor.”

The investigation into the cause of the fire is continuing but Reddy said it appears to be caused by a faulty heating pad.

One apartment resident injured his leg after jumping from the second story of the building.

The earlier fires at Warris Farm Apartments on Jan. 5 and Woodland Villa on Jan. 8 were larger fires. Four apartments were fire damaged at Warris Farm with 20 people being displaced. At Woodland Villa, eight apartments were directly involved with the fire and 34 residents were displaced.

“Those other two fires are still under investigation due to the size and magnitude of the fires,” Reddy said. “We should have causes by the end of the week.”